Through Sam's Eyes - Fireman Sam: Set for Action!
by CarsWorldFan
Summary: Hollywood has come to Pontypandy, but not everyone is happy about the intrusion - especially Sam. He just wants to be able to do his job, but by the time Flex Dexter has finished with him, will he even still have a job to go back to? Warning: Contains spoilers from Fireman Sam: Set for Action! and two of my other FanFics - Broken and Sam Grows Up.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** All recognisable characters belong to HiT Entertainment. All OC's belong to me.

 **Author's note:** Fireman Sam: Set for Action first aired in Australia on ABC Kids on September 30th, 2018. Since I'm Australian, I've been able to obtain a copy of it, so please don't ask how I've been able to get access to it before anyone else on FanFiction.

 **Note to guest reviewers:** Do NOT leave reviews asking me to continue or update my stories as soon as I've published a chapter. They will be blocked and deleted. I am NOT a computer, and I am not being paid to do this, so please show some respect and refrain from immediately demanding more. I have other stories to work on, and I also have a life outside of FanFiction. I now have a zero tolerance for people like you. My policy is, for every review asking me to update, the next chapter will be delayed by a week. If you can't leave constructive criticism, I'd prefer it if you didn't say anything. THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING.

 **Warning: Contains spoilers from Fireman Sam: Set for Action! and two of my other FanFics - Broken, and Sam Grows Up.**

Chapter 1

"Good morning, Tom!" I called as I entered the Mountain Rescue Centre. Startled, Tom jumped, spilling his cup of tea down the front of his uniform.

"Whoa! Mate! I wasn't expecting to see you today."

"Yeah, well, Station Officer Steele assigned me to do a safety inspection here today, so I decided to take a walk instead of driving."

"Fair enough. How's your shoulder holding up?"

"Actually, it hasn't been too bad since I returned to work. The week off really helped it."

It had been about three weeks since I'd badly jarred my weak left shoulder while escaping from James and his giant runaway pumpkin. Helen had ordered me to take a week's sick leave to rest it, and I was glad that I'd done so because since returning to work, I hadn't had any issues with it. I'd initially injured my shoulder and badly broken my forearm in a nasty crash on Mercury earlier in the year. _At least my forearm is a hundred percent better now._

"I'm sure it did," Tom agreed. "I'm just surprised that you walked here today. What if you're needed? It's still the school holidays, you know."

"I'm not concerned. You see, Ellie and Moose are taking care of the kids today as part of their Junior Cadet training, and they've taken Jupiter, and Penny took Mercury to respond to a minor breakdown, so I had to leave Venus behind in case she's needed. Anyway, I guess I'd better get started on that safety inspection."

"Sure, mate. I'll just go and change into a fresh uniform."

"Why don't you leave that one on, just in case I startle you again?" I teased.

Tom responded by throwing a wet tea towel at me. I ducked, and it hit the wall behind me, leaving a damp patch.

"Hmm… Wet tea towel left on the floor. That's not very safe!"

"There's more where that came from!" Tom threatened.

Laughing, I made my way upstairs to begin my safety check. I was about halfway through, when I heard an alert coming in. I went over to the Map Screen-700, and I pressed the button to see what the emergency was.

"There is a runaway oil tanker heading towards Pontypandy, and it is on fire," the Map Screen-700 announced.

 _Oh, Great Fires of London! Why do we always get the difficult ones?_

" _I'm on it, sir!_ " Ellie replied over the radio.

She's going to need help. I slammed my fist down on the red alarm button, triggering the Mountain Rescue Centre's alarms. Tom ran upstairs.

"What is it, Sam?"

"Runaway burning oil tanker heading towards Pontypandy," I reported. "Ellie's going to need backup."

We ran upstairs to the helicopter launch pad. Since I was already wearing my firefighting uniform, I clipped my helmet on and I prepared the harness.

"What do you have in mind for this one, Sam?" Tom asked as he climbed into the cockpit.

"Try and lower me onto the roof of the lorry. I'll use the harness to get the driver to safety."

Tom shook his head in disbelief. "You don't come up with any easy ones, do you? Have you done this before?"

"I've landed on the roof of the train, remember?"

"Oh, yeah…"

"Let's go!" I slipped the harness around myself before I climbed into the cargo bay. Tom started up Wallaby Two, and we took off into the air. Once we were airborne, I lowered myself out of the cargo bay, so the I was flying in the harness below Wallaby Two.

" _It's no good, sir,_ " I heard Ellie report over the radio. " _I can't get any closer to that oil truck! I've got Mandy and Sarah on board today for a Junior Cadet's field trip!_ "

" _We have to stop it somehow!_ " Station Officer Steele exclaimed. " _Its brakes don't work, and it's heading straight for Pontypandy!_ "

There was radio silence for a few seconds, then I heard Ellie say desperately, " _We need Fireman Sam!_ "

" _Yes!_ " Station Officer Steele agreed. " _But, where is he?_ "

I pressed the 'talk' button on my radio. "I'm on my way, sir! Get me in closer, Tom!"

" _Rodger that, Sam!_ "

I could now see the burning tanker below us, being hotly pursued by Ellie in Jupiter. With expert skill, Tom managed to fly Wallaby Two above the tanker, and he positioned me low enough so that I could land on top of it. Once I was sure I had a firm footing, I slipped the harness off, but I kept holding onto it. Taking great care, I crawled down onto the cab roof. Then, I leaned over so that I could peek into the cab through the open window. The poor driver was as white as a sheet and his knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel.

I decided to try and make light of the situation to help him relax. "I hear you're in a bit of trouble, sir."

Surprised, the driver simply stared at me. "Huh?"

"Stay calm," I soothed. I unlatched the cab door, pushed it open and scrambled down off the roof, all while keeping hold of the harness. Once I had my feet firmly planted on the tanker's external steps, I leaned in and I unfastened the driver's seatbelt. Then, I slipped the harness around the driver's head. "We'll have you out of here in no time," I said as I helped him slip his arms under the harness strap. Once I'd secured the harness around him, I yanked him out of the driver's seat. He screamed as he flew off into the air with Wallaby Two. Meanwhile, I got into the driver's seat myself, and I closed the door.

 _There must be something I can do to at least slow this tanker down._ I tried the brake lever, but sure enough, it had failed. _Just like when I crashed Mercury… Oh, please! I can't go through that again. I really didn't think this through…_

"I can't slow it down," I reported to Station Officer Steele and Ellie via the radio. "Am I clear up ahead?"

" _No, Sam!_ " Penny immediately replied. " _Trevor's bus is blocking the road. I've got all the passengers out, but we can't move the bus._ "

I glanced around, looking for a way off the road, but stone walls lined both sides of the road in this area. _This can't be happening! I might have no other choice but to crash into a wall… But that'll mean an explosion…_

At that moment, I saw a wooden gate in the wall. Seeing my way out, I deliberately steered the tanker into it. The gate splintered, and I was jolted around as it headed off-road, but I managed to keep it going straight.

" _He's off the road now, Penny!_ " Ellie reported. " _But he's headed for the trees!_ " She was no longer following me in Jupiter, because Jupiter was unable to go off-road over such hilly terrain. I'm not even sure that the tanker was designed for it either, but I'd had no other choice.

" _On my way,_ " Penny said.

I managed to steer the tanker through some of the forest, but the track ended in a dead-end. Penny drew up alongside me on Mercury.

"Sam, there's no way out from here!" she informed me.

That made my decision easy. I was going to have to jump clear and hope that I didn't end up breaking my arm again. I pushed open the cab door and leapt. Miraculously, I managed to land on both feet this time, and I instinctively tucked myself into a ball. I did a full forward summersault before I managed to stop myself from rolling by planting my left fist onto the ground. _Well, that wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be!_ I thought as I watched the tanker crash into the trees and explode into a fireball. I stood up, still staring at the destroyed tanker. I saw a few stars floating in my vison, but they cleared quickly.

"Are you okay, Sam?" Penny asked as she drove past me on Mercury.

"I'm fine, Penny!" I reassured her. "Just doing my job," I added softly.

Seeing that Arnold and Elvis had arrived in Venus, I ran over to her and I pulled out two fire extinguishers. Then, I jogged over to Penny, and I handed one of them to her. Together, we approached the fire, along with Elvis with a hose and Arnold with a beater. Working as a team, we set out extinguishing the fire.

"It's under control now, Sam!" Elvis reported.

"Good." My fire extinguisher ran out, so I carried it over to Venus. Looking up, I saw Ellie, Sarah and Mandy standing a safe distance away. Mandy had her phone out, so she was obviously filming again. _Those kids!_

After I'd marked that the fire extinguisher was empty, I put it back inside Venus' locker. Then, I sat down on the open tray to rest. My colleagues joined me a few minutes later.

"The fire is out now, Sam," Penny reported. "Are you sure you're okay?"

I nodded slowly. "I'm fine. Just feeling a little foolish. I didn't think about what I'd do once I'd rescued the driver."

Penny patted my shoulder. "Never mind, Sam. Everyone's safe, and that's the important thing."

"I suppose… I kept getting flashbacks of my crash with Mercury though."

Penny offered me a hug, which I accepted. She didn't need to say anything else.

I drew in a deep breath before I hopped down off the tray. It was time for me to resume my duties as Leading Fireman. "Okay, team. Let's pack up."

…

It was several hours before we were able to return to the fire station after clearing up after the incident. The remains of the tanker had been towed away to Newtown for police examination, while the shaken driver was being cared for by Helen.

Upon our arrival, Penny and I immediately went to report to Station Officer Steele. We found him seated at his desk, talking on his phone.

"Yes, Helen. I'll let him know. Thanks. Bye." And he hung up the phone.

"What did Helen want?" Penny asked.

"She wants to see you, Sam," Station Officer Steele replied.

"I think I can guess why," I muttered.

"She saw Mandy's footage of your rescue, and she just wants to be sure you're okay, physically. I must say, I'm looking forward to seeing the footage myself!"

I groaned. "It wasn't anything special, sir."

"No, you only landed on top of a moving vehicle, helped the driver out, took over steering and then leapt clear," Penny teased. "At least you managed to land on your feet this time, and not on your arm."

"Thanks, Penny," I muttered sarcastically. "How's the driver doing?"

"Helen said that he's badly shaken, but recovering well," Station Officer Steele replied. "He has someone coming from Cardiff to collect him."

"I'm glad he'll be okay," I said. "We'd better go and write our reports now."

"Thank you," Station Officer Steele said as Penny and I left the room.

"I know how you can prove to Helen that you're fine, and don't need a check-up," Penny said as we made our way upstairs.

"Oh? How?"

…

Twenty minutes later, Penny and I were seated at the kitchen table, filling out our reports, when we heard a vehicle pull into the driveway downstairs. Penny went over to the window to see who it was.

"Helen's here, Sam."

"Thanks."

I went over to the nearest fireman's pole, and I took hold of it.

"She's just entering the appliance bay now."

I pulled myself onto the pole and I slid down it just as Helen appeared from around Venus.

"Oh! There you are, Sam!"

"Station Officer Steele said that you were concerned about me after what happened earlier," I said.

"Erm… Yes. And, knowing you as well as I do, I know how good you are at hiding things from me; even if you can slide down a fireman's pole. Come into the sick bay so I can check you over."

I sighed with annoyance. "Can't it wait until after I've finished my report?"

"No, I'm afraid it can't wait, Sam. I have other patients to attend to besides you, you know."

I cupped my hand next to my mouth. "It didn't work, Penny!" I called up through the hole above me. Penny's head appeared as she looked down at me.

"I didn't think it would!"

"Then… Oh, never mind." And I reluctantly followed Helen into the sick bay.

"Sit down on the bed, please, and take off your shirt," Helen instructed once I'd closed the door. I did so, and Helen began to feel my forearm where I'd broken it.

"Helen, you really don't need to make a fuss," I protested. "I can assure you that I'm perfectly fine. I'll admit that my muscles will probably be a bit sore tomorrow, but that's it."

Helen was now feeling my left shoulder. "In that case, I recommend a hot shower and a massage. Didn't you feel anything when you landed?"

I shook my head. "I felt like I landed on a pillow or something soft. Then again, I do have a very high pain threshold."

"Or maybe your guardian angel was working overtime."

I chuckled. "Maybe." _Or maybe it was my Pwca protecting me again?_

"Did you feel dizzy at all when you stood up?"

"I saw a few stars, but that's all. They didn't last long."

Helen took out a small torch, and she shone it into my eyes. I knew she was looking for signs of concussion.

"At least you were wearing your helmet," Helen mused. "I think you'll be okay, but just be wary of delayed concussion. If you start to feel tired, dizzy or nauseous…"

"Contact you immediately," I finished.

"Yes. And, I'm going to advise that you don't do anything strenuous for the rest of the day."

"In other words, you don't want me to go jumping out of another runaway vehicle?"

Helen chuckled. "You know what I mean. I'll just go and tell Station Officer Steele, and then I'll be on my way."

I pulled my shirt back on, and I tucked it in. "Thanks, Helen."

After Helen had gone upstairs, I went into the appliance bay to check my helmet and uniform for damage. My uniform was a bit dirty, but since I could only wash it a few times before the fire-resistant coating became damaged, I brushed the worst of the dirt off with my hand. Then, I looked at my helmet. The plastic visor was badly scratched, and it had a few cracks in it, so I decided to replace it. I retrieved a new visor out of one of the lockers, and I set about removing the old one.

Penny joined me just as I'd finished attaching the new visor. "What did Helen say?"

"My arm's fine. I just need to be wary of delayed concussion."

"In other words, light duties only?"

"Unfortunately, yes." I put my helmet back on the shelf. "I don't mind though. I think I've had enough excitement for one day. Want to help me replace the fire extinguishers in Venus?"

"Sure."

That only took us a couple of minutes. Then, I returned upstairs to finish filling out my report. When I'd finished, I went downstairs to give it to Station Officer Steele. I was surprised to find Helen still in the Control room, talking to Station Officer Steele. In fact, she was showing him Mandy's footage of my rescue. He looked completely stunned.

I cleared my throat to get their attention. "I've finished my report, sir."

"Just put it on my desk," Station Officer Steele replied without taking his eye off Helen's mobile phone screen. His eyes widened, then he winced. "Are you sure he didn't hurt himself, Helen?"

"If he did, he's hiding it very well."

I sighed and rolled my eyes. _He doesn't even know that I'm here! I'll test him._ "Sir, there's been an earthquake in Newtown."

"That's great," Station Officer Steele replied dismissively.

Shaking my head, I started to leave the room.

"Sam deserves a medal for putting his life on the line like that!" Station Officer Steele exclaimed.

"You mean, another one to go with the twenty-five other medals I already have?" I retorted loudly as I closed the door. I was exaggerating about how many medals I had, but it felt like twenty-five. The truth was, I wasn't sure how many medals I had, but even one was one too many for me.

 _I don't want to be rewarded for doing my job. I just love being able to do it._


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** All recognisable characters belong to HIT Entertainment. All OCs belong to me.

Chapter 2

About a fortnight later, I arrived for work a little bit earlier than usual. Station Officer Steele was already at his desk when I entered the Control Room to sign on for duty.

"Morning, sir," I greeted him as I signed the duty roster.

"Morning, Sam. I'm glad you're in early, because I have some reports that need processing." And he held out a handful of paper.

I took the reports from him. "Guess I'm in for a quiet morning then."

"Yes. Oh, and some mail arrived for you. I've put it on your desk."

"Thanks."

I left the Control Room and I headed upstairs. I went straight over to my desk at the far end of the Main Room. After I'd placed the pile of reports down on my desk, I looked at my mail. There were a couple of letters, and a small package. Seeing that the package was from Headquarters in Newtown, I decided to open that first.

As soon as I'd opened the package, I knew exactly what it was. _Another medal for outstanding bravery._ I sighed heavily before tossing the box containing the medal aside. Then, I read the letter that accompanied it.

Penny came over to me. "Morning, Sam."

"Morning, Penny," I replied without looking up from the letter.

Penny picked up the box, and she opened it. She smiled when she saw the medal. "Another medal for outstanding bravery?"

I nodded. "Boyce saw the video of the lorry rescue. He says he 'didn't need Station Officer Steele's recommendation' to help him decide to award it to me."

"Why didn't he come here to award it to you in person?"

I finally made eye contact with Penny. "He says it's because he's had to attend meetings in Aberystwyth this week, so he decided to mail it to me, but I suspect it's because he knows I'd refuse to accept it if he tried to pin it on me."

Elvis brought over a cup of tea for me. He smiled when he saw Penny holding my new medal. "Ooohhh! Is that another medal for outstanding bravery, Sam?"

"Yes, it is," I replied as I put the letter aside.

"And you thoroughly deserve it, Sam," Penny reminded me. She set the medal, still in its box, back down on my desk.

"How many medals do you have now, Sam?"

"This is my second medal for outstanding bravery," I replied matter-of-factly. "I have eight other bravery medals, plus my ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five, and thirty-year service medals."

"Wow!" Elvis exclaimed. "I wish I could have that many medals."

"What for?" I asked. "They don't do anything, except gather dust."

"Don't worry, Sam," Penny soothed. She placed her hands on my shoulders. "They'll help jog your memory when you're old and senile."

I shrugged her hands off my shoulders. "Very funny! I don't need medals to remember how successful my career has been. I'll prove it to you. Elvis, do you remember the day when Penny first arrived here?"

"How could I forget? She showed you up right from the start."

I blushed, and Penny giggled.

"Well, I had to prove that I could hold my own against you men," Penny explained.

"Well, you certainly did that right from the start!" I retorted with a small chuckle. "Not to mention Elvis having a huge crush on you."

Penny and Elvis both blushed, which made me laugh.

"Was it really that obvious?" Elvis asked.

"Yes!" Penny and I replied in unison.

"Oh."

"We have had a lot of fun over the years, haven't we?" I asked rhetorically.

"I wouldn't call rescuing you from the sinkhole in my back garden 'fun'," Penny said. "You really frightened all of us that day."

"I frightened myself," I admitted. "I had no idea what was happening. But I'm not the only one who's had to be rescued. Remember how my robot, Bentley, save you from the fire in the appliance bay?"

Penny smiled. "That could've happened to anyone though. By the way, whatever happened to Bentley?

"I had to recycle him for another invention," I admitted. "He wouldn't work nowadays though. He operated off a cassette tape, remember?"

"Oh yes! And Norman replaced it with one that sent him crazy," Elvis added.

"I think that's the first time in the entire history of the fire service that a robot has been awarded with a bravery medal," I said thoughtfully.

"I think you're right, Sam," Penny agreed. "It's a shame you were ordered by Headquarters to stop inventing. Your inventions were much more interesting than Joe's."

"Yeah, well, I was threatened with a disciplinary hearing if my inventions caused another near-disaster in Pontypandy," I explained. "The Chief Fire Officer before Boyce was a bit of an old tyrant. Honestly, I was a bit afraid of him."

"He was the one who almost forced Station Officer Steele into early retirement, wasn't he?" Penny wondered. I nodded.

"That's him. It's a shame the golf bag we bought for Station Officer Steele was destroyed. It was a lovely gift idea."

"Except that Station Officer Steele is rubbish at golf," Penny pointed out. "Hey, do you remember how there was a fire in the kitchen, and Elvis dialled 999?"

Elvis cringed. I chuckled quietly to myself.

"It wasn't that funny," Elvis said.

"Oh, it isn't that," I replied. "I was just thinking about my second Christmas here in the brigade. It was before you arrived, Penny. We were trying to get Trevor's bus out of a snowdrift, and Station Officer Steele became impatient with Elvis' slowness, so he told Elvis to 'put his skates on'."

"What happened?" Penny wondered.

I chuckled again. "Elvis slipped on some black ice, and he went skidding straight into the back of the bus!"

Penny and I burst out laughing. Elvis blushed, before joining in.

"Well, he got his wish!" Elvis added, which made us laugh even harder.

"We sure make a great team together, don't we?" I asked once we'd calmed down somewhat.

"We sure do, Sam," Penny agreed. "We sure do."

…

Just over a week later, the school half-term holidays began, which meant that my colleagues and I were on high alert for any emergencies caused by the kids (and sometimes their parents). Penny and I had just finished a tea break, and we were talking about some up-coming servicing for Phoenix, when we heard the alert tone go off downstairs.

"Brace for impact," I muttered. We were the only firefighters on duty that day, because Elvis, Ellie and Arnold had taken the time off to study for our up-coming test day. The test day was held once every year, to ensure that we were all familiar with any new techniques, and that we hadn't forgotten any of the basics. It was easy to become complacent when it came to following the correct procedures.

The alarms went off, and Station Officer Steele's voice sounded over the loudspeakers. " _There is a fire at Joe Sparkes' garage, and the Great Normansky is trapped in a magic booth!_ "

Penny and I sprinted over to the nearest fireman's pole. Penny followed me down the pole, and we hit the ground running. I pressed the button to open the roller door to appliance bay one, and then I quickly put on my firefighting uniform. Having spent the better part of twenty-five years with Penny by my side, we didn't need to say anything to each other. We just knew what the other was thinking. Since this sounded like a small fire, we'd take Venus, and Penny would drive her. My thoughts were confirmed when Penny cast me a slight nod and a smile.

As soon as we were ready, we ran over to Venus. Penny got into the driver's seat, while I got into the passenger seat. Penny activated Venus' lights and siren before driving away down the driveway.

We arrived at Joe's garage a few minutes later. As I'd guessed, the fire was only a small one, but it was spreading quickly. Penny and I got out of Venus, hitting the ground running. Seeing the Sarah, Mandy, Hannah and Derek standing in the driveway, I went over to them. Mandy held her mobile up in front of her, so I figured that she was recording, again.

"Stand back, everyone!" I ordered, ignoring the mobile. Then, I ran around to the back of Venus.

Penny handed me a fire extinguisher, while she took care of the crowbar. We jogged over to the large wooden box that was burning, and after pulling down my visor, I quickly put the fire out with the extinguisher. As soon as the fire was out, Penny pulled the jammed door open with the crowbar.

Norman emerged, coughing from the smoke. "Ta-da!" he said, before he was overcome with more coughing. Penny gently guided him away from the smoke.

Sighing heavily with disbelief, I went over to Mike and Joe. "What happened here?"

"Sorry, Sam," Joe apologised. "We were trying to do a magical special effect…"

"Eeee…but I'm not so sure we got it quite right," Mike interjected.

"No, I'm not sure you did," I agreed. Behind me, the weakened wooden box collapsed into a pile of smouldering debris. I turned to look at it, shrugging. _Well, at least there isn't much left to clear up._

Mandy and Sarah came over to me. Mandy was aiming her mobile phone at me, so she was obviously still filming.

"So, Sam," Sarah began. "How do you feel about being a big, famous internet star now?"

I was confused. "Uh, what?"

"Your big, heroic oil truck rescue has gone viral," Sarah explained.

 _Whatever that means…_ "Um… Well, I'm not sure that makes me a star! I was just doing my job."

"Thanks, Sam," Sarah said as Mandy finally stopped filming.

Penny lifted her visor as she approached me. "Don't worry, Sam. These internet things are a flash in the pan." I lifted my visor as well while she was speaking. "It'll blow over in no time."

I frowned thoughtfully. _I sure hope she's right…_

"Ah, Sam!" Chief Fire Officer Boyce said loudly as he cut into our group. Station Officer Steele was with him. I was rather surprised to see them appear seemingly out of the blue. _What's he doing here?_ "I've just had a call from a big film producer," Boyce continued. "He wants you to be in a movie, playing yourself!"

I couldn't have heard that right. "What!"

"I know! He saw your dramatic oil truck recue on one of those internet clips."

 _Wait, this is ridiculous! I can't be in a movie!_ "But, sir!" I protested. "Surely, it would be better if an actor was playing the part."

"Oh, shushushush!" Boyce said in my face, trying to silence my protests. "Nonsense!" He placed a hand on my shoulder. "They want you! And I'll…I mean, we'll…" he indicated to everyone else, "…yes, get to meet lots of famous movie stars, and it'll be marvellous publicity for the Pontypandy Fire Service."

 _We don't need publicity!_ I shrugged Boyce's hand off my shoulder. "But, sir!" I said a little more forcefully to try and get my point across. "I'm a firefighter!"

"No, Sam, you're not!" Boyce retorted with equal stubbornness. He pointed sternly at me. "You're Fireman Sam the movie star now! You can go back to being a firefighter once the film is all finished. But not before." And with that, my boss started to walk away, but not before adding a final warning. "Don't let me down."

"Er, I'll try not to, sir," I said despondently in defeat.

Penny came over to me, and she gave me a gentle nudge on my right arm. I flinched.

"What just happened?"

"I think you just lost an argument," Penny teased. "Come on! Don't you want to be in the movie?"

"No, I do not!" I snapped, hopefully loud enough for Boyce to hear me. "I'm a hopeless actor, and you all know that!"

"Why don't you go and sit in Venus while I pack up?"

I hesitated before I decided to follow Penny's advice. As I walked over to Venus, I glared coldly at Sarah and Mandy. _This is all their fault! I can't really blame them though. They're just kids._

I sighed heavily as I sat down on Venus' passenger seat. I was tempted to slam the door closed, but I knew that it wouldn't help matters. I'll have another discussion with Boyce later, after I've thought more about this.

Penny joined me inside Venus. "Feeling any better?" she asked after she'd closed the door.

"No…"

"Cheer up. There are worse things in life than being singled out to star in a movie."

"Name one," I muttered as Penny started up Venus. Penny accelerated Venus before she replied.

"How about leaping from a moving vehicle and breaking your arm, which puts you out of action for over two months?"

I cast her a dirty look. "You just HAD to bring that up, didn't you?"

Penny winked. "I know that acting isn't your forte, Sam, but nobody's saying that you have to enjoy it. Just get it over and done with as quickly as possible, so that things can return to normal around here."

I shook my head. "I'm going to discuss it more with Boyce. He can't exactly order me to do something I don't want to do, can he?"

"No, I suppose he can't. Oh, look! There's Boyce and Steele now. It looks like they're about to cross the street."

"Keep going, Penny!" I urged.

Penny raised an eyebrow in surprise, but she didn't slow down. Chief Fire Officer Boyce stepped out onto the road just as we were about to pass. I flicked the siren on. The noisy blast startled both Chief Fire Officer Boyce and Station Officer Steele, making them jump backwards. Chief Fire Officer Boyce tripped on the gutter, and he would've fallen over onto his bottom had Station Officer Steele not caught him.

I laughed as I turned off the siren. "Thanks Penny. I needed that!"

Penny shook her head, but I could see a small smile on her lips. "Sam, one of these days, your pranks are going to go too far."

"What?"

"I said, that one of these days, your pranks are going to go too far."

"What?"

"I said -. Oh, you!"

I clapped my hands and started laughing hysterically. "Gotcha!"

Penny sighed. "Just don't say I didn't warn you."


End file.
